The south-westerlies that have come in the wake of Hurricane Katia again took centre stage in the Tour of Britain, with Monday's cancelled stage in the north-west succeeded by the first major sort-out of the race on the exposed Staffordshire moorlands. There are now 20 riders in contention for the overall title, and Mark Cavendish is still among them although he lost his overall lead to the stage winner, Lars Boom of Holland.

The strong crosswind was ideal for what is known in cycling terminology as a coup de bordure where one team sets a searing pace at the front, the field fans out from one side of the road to the other to find what shelter they can, and the weaker elements – or those who simply are in the wrong place at the wrong time – get weeded out as they try to fight the wind.

In a classic piece of racing, all six riders from Team Sky led the charge close to the feed zone with some 42 of the 87 miles remaining, and they pulled a lead group away with them that eventually totalled 27 riders, and was reduced to 20 at the finish.

The leaders included Cavendish and two team-mates, three from the Leopard-Trek squad and three from Boom's Rabobank team, as well as some lesser-known British racers such as Motorpoint's Ian Bibby and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke of Rapha Condor Sharp. With all the major teams represented, it was no surprise when they eventually opened a near four-minute gap on the next group.

The uphill, twisting finish into the centre of Stoke is not quite Cavendish's cup of tea without a full team to support him, and the Manxman had expended his team-mates Lars Bak and Bernhard Eisel in chasing down a late move from Sky's Alex Dowsett, who was caught with only a kilometre to go.

The Rabobank trio had been discreet as the chase intensified, and they profited to the full to give Boom the stage win from his Australian team-mate Michael Matthews, with Cavendish an annoyed man in fifth behind the Sky pairing of Geraint Thomas and Steve Cummings.

Wednesday's stage through Wales was conclusive last year, and although better weather is expected between Welshpool and Caerphilly, an exposed seven-mile climb through the Brecon Beacons should soften up the riders' legs before the final ascent of Caerphilly Mountain, just before the finish.